Bill Broderick's analysis of how city, area football teams did and what will happen next

Lakeview players celebrate in a game earlier this year. Lakeview's game vs. Kalamazoo Central this week has been moved to Thursday due to the observance of Yom Kippur(Photo: Seth Graves /Enquirer File)

In the city

Battle Creek Central

Week 1: For the fourth straight season, Battle Creek Central opened the season with a loss, each one coming against Stevensville Lakeshore. It is a tough opener for BCC each season as the Lancers are a perennial playoff team. It has also been a similar contest each time out, as the Bearcats allowed 30 or more points in each of the last three contests.

Next: The schedule doesn't get any easier as they go on the road to play another Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference power in Portage Central. It is the second contest of a four-game stretch of opponents who went to the playoffs last year. Portage Central beat Mattawan, 27-14, in Week 1 and knocked off BCC, 42-8 last year.

Lakeview

Week 1: With 10 new starters on defense, Lakeview impressed by keeping the Spartans in the game until they could pull away late. With the teams exchanging touchdown early and the game knotted at 14-14, Lakeview broke open the game by going away from the script and Tyler Brown threw a touchdown pass to a wide open Carson Rogers as Portage Northern was overplaying the run. The Spartans put the game away in the final minutes with a late touchdown to make sure the Huskies couldn't finish with a last-second score to tie the game.

Next: Due to Benton Harbor leaving the SMAC, Lakeview wasn't able to replace the Tigers on their schedule last year and played an eight-game season, with an open week in Week 2. This year, Lakeview was able to find a nonconference opponent and will travel to Cedar Springs on Thursday. Cedar Springs had a tough opener against a perennial power in Zeeland West and struggled in a 50-12 loss.

Harper Creek

Week 1: The Beavers played a much-improved Gull Lake team in its opener and it showed on the scoreboard. After Harper Creek beat the same Gull Lake team last year 39-10, the Beavers squeaked out a 15-14 win this time. Credit to the close game goes to first-year Gull Lake coach Ryan Gallogly, who had the Blue Devils coached up and playing good defense against the Beavers' trapping schemes in the run game.

Next: Harper Creek coach Mike Seedorff was disappointed in his team's offense in Week 1 as the Beavers hope to dominate games with the run this season. Too many plays were stopped at the line of scrimmage to prevent Harper Creek from moving the chains. A lot of improvement can happen between Week 1 and Week 2 and the Beavers expect to be more effective against a Jackson Northwest team that lost to Harper Creek, 35-0, last year. Jackson Northwest showed some spark in Week 1, beating Eaton Rapids, 16-14.

Pennfield

Week 1: Pennfield couldn't get its wing-T offense rolling against a quality Williamston team, only putting up 13 points in a loss. The Panthers knew they had a tough opponent in the opener, but with an experienced team this year, Pennfield had hoped to make a run at the upset.

Next: With the kind of schedule Pennfield has, this is almost a must-win already in Week 2 if the Panthers want to make the playoffs. Pennfield will host Parma Western in a contest the Panthers won last year, 48-34. Parma Western went on to go 3-6 last year and as this game came up on the schedule, it looked to be a winnable game for the Panthers. However, Pennfield fans might be a little nervous as Parma Western beat Lansing Eastern in its opener, 62-12.

St. Philip

Week 1: A surprising result in the opener for St. Philip, both in who won and the score. The Tigers were going on the road to play a team in Wyoming Tri-unity Christian that advanced to the state semifinals last year in 8-man football. However, the Tigers upset Tri-unity and did so in the kind of defensive battle seldom seen in 8-man football, winning 14-8 in overtime.

Next: St. Philip is facing a team in its first year in 8-man football in North Adams-Jerome. That means two things. North Adams-Jerome is just a year away from being big enough to play 11-man football and has those numbers on its side. However, it also means there is a learning curve regarding the strategy for 8-man football that North Adams-Jerome must deal with. One thing the Rams found out in Week 1 was how high scoring the game can be as they beat Burr Oak, 48-46.

Around the area

Marshall: The Redhawks are still buzzing about a dramatic, come-from-behind victory in which Marshall trailed by 28 points at one point and then beat Jackson in overtime, 35-34. It was a huge win for Marshall, which wants to get back to the playoffs and let too many close games slip away last year. A game to find out who some of the powers are in the Interstate 8 Conference is next as Marshall hosts Coldwater. Marshall upset Coldwater last year and kept the Cardinals from defending their I-8 title.